The Celebrations.

The day started off bright and early at 6:30 when all the kids came down to the playroom where I was finishing up my exercising. Since it was Miles' birthday I didn't make them go back up until 7am. :)

Miles got to open one present after breakfast. He had actually picked out this toy a couple of weeks ago and deemed it the one he wanted to open. He loves it. It's called a dunkadoo (sp?) and starts out as a flat penguin and then you add water and it grows. The penguin is named March. (I did suggest the name.) But he slowly gets flat again as the water evaporates, I guess. And Miles told me that means he dies and then when he gets "watered again" he will get a new name. Very cool.

Later that morning we went to Target and Miles used his gift-card that he'd gotten from his grandparents and bought his own presents. He was delighted to get all he got. (A lot of small sea-like animals, plus bendaroos. I "encouraged" him to get the bendaroos b/c he loves creating and crafting. It was what he played with as soon as we got home. :)

The whole darn family got to go to Miles' school and help with his birthday snacks. It was very fun and Ben was able to get out early from work and thus surprise Miles with coming too. Here we are all singing Happy Birthday - we did it twice, once super-fast and once normal.

Here Miles is at his desk with his adorable desk-mates. :) Miles inspired the whole snack. I felt a little embarrassed afterwards that it was way too much, but there was no taking back anything by then. On Monday Miles and I worked together in getting them put together. We made awesome jolly rancher suckers , then put chex mix, CARS chewy treats and the sucker inside the cups. Then, because Miles so wanted to, we got some "bugs" and taped them to the outside of the cups. Miles hardly let me help him put them together; he just wanted to do them all.

As soon as we got home we opened the rest of the gifts. Some super fun stuff! And Miles was just so sweet and so excited about every little thing. He took time to look at each thing before moving on to the next and so that was great.

Aunt-E got him a great selection of great books - Ramona, The Twits, Ralph S. Mouse, etc. We started The Twits tonite. Oh how fun.

Emmy just being cute.

Emmy and Jonas got a little present, too - bubbles.

Here's the birthday cake. I got the idea from here. The idea had used M'nMs, but we thought gumballs were ummm more appropriate. :) I think it was fun and my kids thought it was great.

We had a few families over to help celebrate with us. I think we had 15 kids and 8 adults total - the most this house has ever held. :) It was great. Miles loved every minute of it, I am pretty sure. (This was the little-girls' table, I mean the big-girls' table.)

Miles and some friends enjoying some pizza. I think this is the first time our family has ever paid for Dominos pizza. So it was a real treat. :) We are all lucky to have such great families for friends. They are such good people and good kids.

Pinata time. It was a little scary and close at times, but fun indeed.

And Miles blowing out the birthday candles - well, actually, I guess Emmy did. I didn't notice anything b/c I was behind the camera, but that's what happened. And looking at this picture, that certainly looks to be the case. :)

A super fun day with a super fun birthday boy.

Happy Birthday Miles

Oh Miles. I never know where to start or what to say with you.

You are a boy full of juxtapositions.

You will do and say the sweetest things. Like when you found out I was pregnant one of the first things you said to me was, "I hope it is a girl for Emmy." Oh I could have melted (if I wasn't so cold in our drafty winter house). And you continue today to state that same thing, even though you think another boy would be fun, too. You say "thank you" quite often now without any prompting. You compliment. Like yesterday as we were going to church you told me, "I really like your skirt, mom." You always tell your father that you wish he had a "home job." You love him so much and want to be with him most of the time.

But, on the other hand, you are our family's pester-er. It's so weird and it really doesn't fit with your personality, yet it does. You don't bother so much as by punching or shoving. Just by pestering. By slight moves. You are the master of "slights." Jonas tells me every day, "I'm not playing with Miles anymore!" I wish he wouldn't so you would maybe learn, but Jonas loves you and loves playing with you. You just have so much energy and sometimes lack the desire and the patience to tame that energy into good.

Another juxtaposition is you and eating. You continue to love most all foods (yes, you still adore sardines. I know.). You'll have eaten a big meal (more food than me) and then say, "I'm still hungry!" You eat good and healthy foods, but also loves your treats. However, if you get treats (candy, gumballs, etc.) you don't necessarily eat them right up - like, ahem, your 2 younger siblings. Sometimes you'll even save some candy for later on in the day, or even the next day. It's impressive. And there is no way I can ever steal candy from your halloween bag - you'd know exactly what was missing. Really. I think I got caught once.

You are wild, but you are also cautious. You play wild and loud and crazy A LOT. You create HUGE messes. You scream, you growl, you run about like a mad-man. You body or your mind seems to be constantly stirring, hardly resting. You want to go, go, go and do, do, do. But cautious you remain. Cautious, aka "scared." Scared of the night-time darkness. Scared of trees falling on our house. Scared of being struck by lightning. Scared of robbers. And, yes, you still remain scared of MOOSE. Big, dead, stuffed moose. This is an innate quality about you apparently. It began when you were around 18 months old and screamed and cried at a store where a large moose-bust (or whatever you call it!) was mounted on the wall. And just recently we were at the BYU Bean museum and there was a life-sized real (dead) moose there and you. . . freaked out. You would not get close to it. You would run as fast as you could, without looking its direction, to get to the other side of the museum. Wow.

This year was a year of firsts, as well. Like your first organized sport. We signed you up for T-ball. I liked to refer to it as tee-hee ball. :) It was a blast watching the 5 year-olds out on the field. But you were my absolute favorite to watch. Oh I loved watching you. You were so. . . you. You just have this personality that cannot leave you - no matter what endeavor you are engaged in. You had sort of fun with T-ball. But it was probably too boring for you and you just couldn't understand the purpose of t-ball. You are a task-oriented kid, but apparently hitting the ball and running around bases isn't task-oriented enough. I loved when you would blow kisses to your family as you'd run around the bases. I also loved how you would beg to have Jonas or Emmy sit with you on the bench. Oh those were the best moments.

But your biggest first this past year was starting school. The Big K. Kindergarten. You started out okay. Definitely smart enough. But lacking in desirable social and behavior skills. But you have much, much improved. In the first few months I would have quite a few days where Mr. James (your great teacher) would need to talk to me. Now I rarely have those occasions - and if I do, it's usually very positive. Sure, you still have some issues to work on, but you have improved greatly. And you do love school. You tell me that a lot. Even though there are days you beg me to let you stay home and "nap" (yeah right), when you get out of school you always tell me you had fun and that you like school. Of course your favorite part of the day always seems to be recess. But you're learning a lot about being a good friend, a good student, and a good person. It's been fun for the whole family having you in school. I don't mean by having you gone 1/2 the day. I mean the school activities, fairs, events, etc. School is now part of our family and it is a very fun and positive part.

You remain our family's resident hoardiculturist. You know, like horticulturist? Only we mean that you love, love, love to hoard things. Little things. Little toys. Little things found on walks. Little rocks - I have a stash of rocks found on your playground and then brought to me. You really treasure things and hold on to them. It's neat. And also not-so-neat. Every so often we have to deep clean your room and get rid of all these "little things."

You remain Creative. Intelligent. Inquisitive. Talkative. True to yourself.

I remain in love with you.

Happy Birthday my handsome boy,

mom.

BYU International Folk Dancers

so this was a not-so-boring event.

the BYU dancers came to our little town - well, actually, they didn't even come to our little town. they came to an even smaller town about 20 miles away. so we went. all 5 of us.

it was a lot of fun. before it had started i leaned over to ben and told him, "maybe we'll leave at intermission." he nodded. not that i didn't think i'd like it - but i wasn't sure how my 3 kids would do sitting for 2 hours.

we didn't leave at intermission. we stayed the whole time. the kids - including our boys - loved it all. after every dance number they would shout, "another!" i thought it was great. ben loved every minute of it. good talent is just inspiring and uplifting.

but perhaps my favorite moment of the night happened early on. the dancers had just come out on stage and had been out for just a few minutes. jonas leaned over to ben and asked:

"are those people real?"

the costumes, the make-up, the symmetry of dance - it did look a little fairy-tale-ish.

boring

there hasn't been a post all week long.

because it's boring around here.

not the, "i have nothing-to-do-boredom." but rather the, "i don't want to do this again." my life has felt very, very Groundhog's Day-ish this past week.

i have had stuff to do like host jonas' preschool group; organize and attend cub scouts (will i ever get out. . .???? :); wash clothes; wash the dishes; get breakfasts, lunch, dinners and snacks; sweep the floor; pick up, pick up, pick up; assist emmy in potty-training; "school-time" with jonas; make my bed; work-out; and play with my kids. (while playing can be a joy, somedays i just don't want to play with 6, 4, and 2 year olds. seriously.)

we did have a few excursions that were different and fun. like biking with the 3 kids (i push emmy on a trike with a long pole) while ben roller-bladed. but, then again, i was slightly bored that i just had to putts along walking. i wanted to bike. get some speed going, energy flowing. but i mainly just pushed emmy along as my 4 and 6 year-old kept wanting ben to go "real fast!" which he would to their utmost delight.

it was sunny and warm yesterday (upper 40s) and so after school the 3 kids and i walked down to a cute little shop near us. an "antique shop." it was fun, but could have been awesome if i wasn't petrified of one my children breaking something at any given minute. or annoyed at miles wanting every. single. bird. paraphernalia. in the place.

but other than that it's been hanging out at home, playing who-knows-what. oh, but today, did i luck out for 30 minutes! the boys wanted me to lie (lay, which is it mom?) down on the couch (*bonus*) as they placed toy bugs all around my body, in my hair, between my toes, etc. it was restful - until emmy came up to me smelling of poop and wanting me to help her "wipe." she's cute. but messy and stinky, too.

anyways, so that's really it. i haven't been following american idol too much. too many contestants right now and not many of them are really fantastic from what little i've seen. except crystal bowersox. i saw her first performance on the computer last nite and fell in love with her music. (seriously, for some reason i always want to cry when i listen to her sing this song.) i love her. i want her to win the entire thing. i think i will vote for my first time ever this season.

(p.s. one of the best lines in Hand in My Pocket: "I'm short but I'm healthy." makes me smile.)

made by e for m

so hopefully i don't show miles the blog for a little bit. but my sister sent this link to me a while back and told me that her SIL had done Idea #10. i loved it! so my sister, ever so great, sent some blocks to me, along with the fabric-paint shirt package. (i don't have a single store here that sells blocks.)

so i started working on a puzzle for miles' birthday. i did 6 different types of birds on it - parakeet, duck, eagle, peacock, loon, and a robin. it's really neat, i think. :) of course when i took it out to take the pictures, i noticed how "rough" it really is. but i don't think miles will mind.

i think it will be hard for him, too, seeing as the blocks are a little small. but i think he'll love it and he'll love working on it with ben or me. :) i'm trying to convince ben to make a neat little wood box to store it in.

fun, fun, i can't wait for his birthday! i love special days.

here are 2 pictures of the puzzle:

i set up our house to get vandalized

so we were coming home from taking miles and i notice 2 kids at ________ (i'll leave the address out of my post) - i think they were trying to throw snowballs at cars. i knew they were punks and i KNEW they were gonna knock down our snowman's head. i just knew it. well i didn't see them, but i did see them vanish from my view and then reappear. so i grabbed up emmy and started walking fast and . . . behold our snowman was beheaded and one of the kids had littered their trash on our yard (which i had seen him drinking).

so i was classy and yelled at them - they had crossed the street and were past that nurse-lady's house (i forgot her name). i thanked them and then called them lame. i don't know if they knew what i was saying?

so then i got even classier and stupider and got the 2 kids in the car and drove to _______, i think. one kid was still there and so i handed him his trash and told him to stay off my property. he just had this retarded look on his face.

well at least i could pick him out in a line-up, right? sheeeeesh.

i also want to write the alternative school and let them know that their students are living well up to their reputations. but maybe i shouldn't.

anyways, thought i'd tell you. sorry!

love you.

love me.

(some background info: this is a letter i just sent off to ben. we have had our snowman beheaded once before and i know it was done by kids from the same alternative school, if not the very same boys. i know kids will be kids. and i know this is pretty harmless. but really? these high-school/alternative school kids know that 99% of snowmen are probably made for/by/with little children. and i find people who cannot respect little ones despicable. harsh, i know.)

(so - pray for our house that we don't get rocks thrown through it again, or worse. also, pray for my cousin's preemie who has been admitted to the hospital with RSV. she is a tiny babe and so this is not the best of situations. and, please, if you only have time for one extra prayer tonite, pray for the little babe. :)

Pictures by Jonas

Our lovely piano and family-picture wall.

Emmy's socks. Typical - just thrown on the floor.

Self-portrait.

A close-up of his shirt and motorcycle. By the way, this is day #3 of wearing the shirt. What? It's still (fairly) clean and he gets dressed before he leaves his room every morning. But I think I'll put it in the hamper tonite. . .

Our office door.

Brother Miles.

Sister Emmy.

Made by m, j, and e

So my sister is pretty great, in case you didn't know. She has done quite a few of "freezer paper stenciling" on some shirts recently. Check them out here (these were made by her husband) and here. She sent us a package that had some for our kids to make. She picked out a bird for Miles, a motorcycle for Jonas, and a puppy for Emmy. We all had a lot of fun working on them. We started out on the back and I thought I would let the kids do that all on their own, and then help/do the front for them - so it looked good for the front. But that didn't work out. The kids had too much fun and were way more creative, so they got to do both (well not Emmy - she's crazy with paints. So she did her back and then while she was sleeping on Sunday, I did her front.)

If I did them, they would have been different. Simple, clean, and precise. Which would have looked really nice, I think. But the kids wanted so much color and they didn't want to stop with just painting the stenciling part - they had to paint more and more. So I think their shirts turned out pretty awesome. They definitely think so and just adore their shirts! We will definitely be making some more at sometime.

So here's the front. Miles: I did help with the outline of the sun and the clouds. The bird was 90% done by him. I also did help with the flower stems. But he really did a lot of it. Jonas: Ben helped with the sun (we were covering up a splotch-mark). Jonas did the road, but later (with permission) I added the yellow lines. I also added the smoke coming out of the motorcycle - once again covering up a splotch-mark. Emmy: I did the front entirely. But I was told what to do by Ben. :) I would have probably done a simple brown dog. Ben thought I should make it more Dr. Seuss-ish. So I tried to do that with green polka dots and purple eyes.

Here are the backs. Miles did this all by himself. Jonas, too, I think. I helped Emmy make sure she got the outline all painted, but she obviously did the rest. :)

SO CUTE. THANKS AUNT-E!

Finally

It pretty much snowed all weekend for us - finally. We have not had any significant snow-fall since Halloween, so this was pretty fun. It's a wet, heavy snow and so it didn't accumulate as much, but I still think we got about 5 inches or so.

Here are some pictures of the kids having fun with the snow:

A great big snowman. Rotten apples for the eyes and a parsnip for the nose.

And so fun: snow treat! Snow with maple syrup drizzled on top. Sooooo good. (Good thing I was off grocery shopping b/c Miles gets no treats until Friday. And Ben had forgotten, as well as Miles??? Truly, I was glad I was gone so he could enjoy this treat - that probably won't still be here by Friday. :)

Friday Fun

Little updates on my kiddos:

Emmy is just a delight. She is so sweet and fun to be around. She loves her brothers - when they are nice to her. She plays "grrrr-dinosaur" with them all the time. She likes to talk a lot now and mimics just about everything we say to her. She now sleeps in a "big kid bed" as she calls it. If I tell her she is a "big girl," she says, "No, big kid."

Jonas is really fun to be around, too. Unless he's whining. Then I don't want to be around him, truthfully. He's a pretty good listener. We still do our little "mommy 'n me school," but I have to figure it out more b/c he is different than Miles and so what I did for Miles isn't really working for Jonas. I haven't figured anything out, yet, though. He loves to ride his bike and is excited for the spring/summer and for when he can do it again without his training wheels.

Miles. I could spend the whole paragraph on negative things. But I won't. He is a great student and does very well in school. I haven't had a negative report in a very, very long time. He's a good kid. Oh Wednesday he gets to walk home 2/3 of the way by himself. And he's soooooo cute. He just runs the whole way until he meets me. I just smile the whole time seeing him. A while ago he got to the crosswalk before anyone else was there - including the crossing guard. Nobody was coming any time soon I could see, so I started walking towards him. I heard him yell calmly and nicely to me (shock - whoops, one negative), "No, mom! Don't come." He then waited until some mother and her child were at the crosswalk and crossed with them. Then, of course, ran up until he met me. :)

And here are some videos for your viewing pleasure: